A Facebook love story turned sour following dowry demand

New Delhi: A small town girl met a well-settled guy abroad on social networking site Facebook. They became friends and gradually fell in love.One fine day both of them decided to marry each other. Parents

New Delhi: A small town girl met a well-settled guy abroad on social networking site Facebook. They became friends and gradually fell in love.

One fine day both of them decided to marry each other. Parents also get convinced and gave their consent for the nuptial knot - This reel life looking real life story would have ended like any other Bollywood flick had the groom side not demanded dowry.

The agitated girl from small town district of Hirapur, in Uttar Pradesh, decided to call off her marriage with his boy friend, settled in New Zealand following the dowry demand.

Dowry is the payment in cash or some kind of gifts given to a bridegroom's family along with the bride. Generally, it includes cash, jewellery, electrical appliances, furniture, bedding, crockery, utensils and other household items that help the newly-wed set up her home.

The system is thought to put great financial burden on the bride's family. The payment of a dowry has been prohibited under the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act in Indian civil law and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498a of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

All this started around two years back when Jyoti Bhagat got a friendship request from Bhupinder Kumar on Facebook.

The groom asked for hefty dowry when the virtual world's love reached the real wedding aisle. The bride, despite having an emotional connect, didn't support the evil demand and asked the groom to leave. Though this bold step by the bride created some dissension but at the end, the groom had to leave the place.

Kumar, who lives in New Zealand, promised Bhagat to take her along to the foreign country post wedding. However, he wanted Bhagat's family to bear the cost of relocating their daughter to New Zealand and demanded Rs 9 lakh in cash for the same.

Bhagat's family, not so financially well off, somehow managed Rs 2.5 lakhs. Everything was fine till the last minute demand of Rs 5 lakh came from the groom's family.

This got Bhagat agitated and she spoke up her mind and decided to unfriend Kumar not only on FB but also from her life.